The Other Promise
by The Genius Mage
Summary: Giftfic, post KH2. Her name was Namine, a girl that knew him unlike any other. He had made a promise to her once, an eternity ago and yet only so many days ago, that they'd be friends without lies. It was a promise he fully intended to keep. Namora.


"_All of this may have started with a lie…but I really _am_ glad I can meet you, Sora."_

"_Yeah…me too. When I finally found you, and even when I remembered your name, I was happy. The way I felt then, that was no lie."_

"_Good bye."_

"_No, not 'good bye'! When I wake up, I'll find you. And then, there will be no more lies. We're gonna be friends for real. Promise me, Naminé."_

"_You're going to forget making that promise."_

"_If the chain of memories comes apart, the links will still be there, right? So the memory of our promise will always be inside me somewhere. I'm sure of it."_

"_Yeah, you're right. Okay, it's a promise."_

"_Good. Until later."_

"_A promise…huh."_

* * *

_~*The Other Promise*~_

* * *

"_Don't worry. You might forget about me…but with our promise, I can come back."_

"_A promise is a promise."_

"_Yes. One day the light—it will be _ours_, and it will bring _us_ together. 'Till then…I'll be in your heart."_

"_Right. Forgotten, but not lost."_

_~***~_

Sora woke up with a start, expecting to fall out of bed like was usually his luck whilst having unsettling dreams. Instead, he felt something hard and cool underneath his hands, his fingers resting against something…glowing?

He leaped to his feet, staring down at the floor, blue eyes widening in shock.

A massive stained glass platform, the same sort that had appeared in his previous dream where he had gotten his Keyblade, existed as the lone light in a deep gray world of dark clouds. He stared stupidly for a second, taking in the picture that the colored panels formed.

Encircling an image of him on all sides, in smaller circles, were his friends. Riku and Kairi—of course—Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, Leon, Yuffie, the list went on and on and _on_. The portraits were startlingly life-like, as if the ground was really a massive window into the lives of his closest allies. Right behind the Sora in the picture, whose Keyblade was thrust into the ground, was Roxas. The blonde Nobody was only partially facing forward, eyes staring into a darker patch of unformed tiles. There were faces in the shadows there, but nothing that the Keybearer could make out. To his right, of course, was Kairi. And right behind her, in almost an identical standing position…

"Naminé," Sora said her name aloud, recalling the girl that appeared even younger than Kairi, despite being her Nobody. The name brought a powerful feeling of nostalgia, flowing easily from his tongue. But…did he know her? She was positioned between Roxas and himself, her eyes locked on some point that only the people in the mural could truly see, and he could only guess at.

"It's good to see you again, Sora."

"Whoa!" He whipped around, Keyblade leaping to his hand with a musical chime, eyes narrowing as he prepared for an attack. Then it occurred to the Keyblader that no one in their right mind would use such a friendly tone whilst addressing their enemy. Sora straightened up, locking gazes with none other than the very object of his thoughts.

"Oh," he said, surprised. "Naminé."

She had appeared from seemingly nowhere, hands clasped behind her back, nodding once before smiling. The witch began to walk slowly towards him, stopping when they were only a foot away. Naminé brought one hand up and folded it into a fist over her heart. "I hope you don't mind, my bringing you here. But I wanted to talk to you again."

Sora pronounced the word slowly, his mind far behind the excited pattering of every beat in his chest. "Again…?"

Naminé dipped her head. "Yes, again. I thought, since your life had slowed down for once," and she smiled here, earning Sora's instant response: a vivid grin. "You might…" She bit her lip.

The girl was no threat, this Sora instantly knew. Anyone that was a part of Kairi couldn't be bad, right? The very idea made him want to laugh. "I might what?"

Naminé sighed. "You made a promise to me, a while ago. You said we could be friends, without all the lies."

Sora flicked through his memories, but the only recollection of a promise that he had was the one he shared with Kairi. "I…did? I don't remember." Mortified, he slouched slightly, shoulders sagging. "I'm sorry."

The witch shook her head slowly. "It's not your fault. The links of the promise are there, and I bet I could find them…but I'm hesitant, to touch your memories again."

"Links…?" Bewildered, Sora tilted his head to the side and offered a sheepish smile.

"It's a long story," Naminé explained somewhat apologetically.

Sora suddenly grinned and snapped his fingers. "Wait, in Jiminy's Journal! It had one message. 'Thank Naminé'. You must have helped us somehow, right?"

She closed her eyes and smiled. "Yes, I did. Though it was my fault to begin with."

"What was?"

Her words became hurried _and _reluctant, impossible as that sounds. "I had altered your memories before, Sora. Didn't you think it was strange, the Organization being called Organization XIII, and you only fought about half of them?"

He crossed his arms, thoughtful. "I...Yeah, I guess so."

"You got through most of their numbers to get to me. To 'save' me, and I was never in any real danger. It was _you_. You were the one in trouble."

Sora gave her a long, scrutinizing stare, his gaze burrowing into her until she fidgeted. He shrugged and tossed the witch a brilliant smile. "Naminé, it's okay. Everything's turned out fine. So, turn that frown upside down!"

Another smile from her. "I'm glad you feel that way, Sora."

"Right. I couldn't be angry with you. You said I made a promise…?" He looked at her curiously. "What exactly…did I say?"

Naminé uncurled the fist that was over her heart and stared at her hand, her gaze turning distant. "I would never forget. You said, 'We're going to be friends for real. Promise me, Naminé.' And I did."

Sora felt an odd, dizzy sensation crash down on his mind, destroying his senses for a second. He stumbled, and he suddenly realized that Naminé had steadied him, her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked anxiously.

He gave her a quick, reassuring smile. "Fine. I just…" Sora blinked, shaking his head, letting the words come without thinking them. "We made a pinky promise, like we did when we were little." His eyes widened. "Wait, but you weren't there on the island…"

Naminé brushed her hair back. "No," she admitted. "But my false links are still in your heart. But the promise was real."

Sora unexpectedly had the weirdest feeling. Like something had clicked, someone had been missing, and instantly, the wound had been fixed. Not healed, but as if there had never been anything gone at all. A dozen or so fractured memories came to mind, but the strongest was the oath they had given one another, outside the same crystalline flower pod that was still in Twilight Town.

A grin split his face, and Sora wrapped both hands around Naminé's, jumping in an excited circle without a single thought being devoted to how childish he looked. "Naminé! You're really here! I can't believe it!"

She looked startled, but pleased, her blue eyes lighting up with a desperate hope. "You remember?"

"I remember! I said we'd be friends, right? No more lies. Now we _can_ be!" He whirled around and around with her, picking her up entirely and spinning once before setting the surprised witch back down. He laughed, his pleasure only intensifying when Naminé started joining in.

Sora stopped after a few minutes, still smiling hugely. "Oh, wait 'till you hear about the worlds I've been to, Naminé! I went to the Pride Lands, and you know who's from there?"

"Simba," she responded, hiding her smile with one hand.

"Yeah! And you know how my appearance changes in some worlds? I was a lion, and…"

Naminé folded her hands behind her back and listened to Sora's excited ramblings about his journeys, despite the fact that she knew just about every detail of his life. In truth, the witch knew him better than even Kairi did. She knew his every memory, and with those memories, she could accurately predict his responses to everything he would ever do, or even how he'd act.

But for his own happiness, she'd keep her mouth shut and act surprised. There were a few things that even she wasn't aware of, after all.

"Oh." Sora turned back to her with a nervous grin. "I shoulda ask you how you've been."

Naminé giggled. "Fine, really. Or…okay."

"You were putting my memories back together, right?"

"Yes."

"And you spent a _year_ down in a basement? You didn't have to rush or anything for my sake, Naminé!"

She looked amused. "I wasn't rushing. Just…a lot of _inconveniences_ popped up."

Sora had that same puzzled expression that he always wore, endearingly the same. "What kind of 'inconveniences'?"

Naminé shook her head. "Don't worry; it's all over with now. I'm kind of glad."

He gave her another curious look.

Putting on an expression of mock horror, the girl moaned dramatically, "Do you _know_ how boring it is, drawing every moment of your life?"

Sora punched her playfully on the shoulder. "You reap what you sow!_ I_ think my life is pretty interesting."

They laughed, and Naminé blushed a deep red as Sora unexpectedly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "I'm really glad I remember you," he told her quietly, suddenly serious,

The witch searched through every memory of Sora's that she had. He had rarely ever hugged anyone before, not even Kairi. Normally the mere action would make him nervous, startled, deer-in-the-headlights frozen. And yet here he was, hugging _her_, and not his light in the dark?

Naminé wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. "You've gotten so tall," she teased gently.

Sora laughed and ruffled her hair before running his fingers through it. "Nah, you're just short."

She twisted in his arms and looked up at him, her back against his chest, sticking her tongue out. "It's because I've spent most of my life in some oppressively white room, drawing."

The news seemed to bother the boy. "Oh…that's right. I really wish I could show you around Destiny Islands." He hesitated, and Naminé knew he wanted to say more.

"Go ahead," she insisted softly. "You can tell me anything."

"Right. Is it…hard, being a Nobody?" He looked reluctant to bring it up, but interested also.

"No. It's not that hard. Nobodies like Roxas and I…" Naminé felt strangely guilty about their position right now—Sora had never tried anything like this before with anyone, that was for sure—and she wondered how the Nobody Keybearer would take it. "Different," she added eventually. "Roxas was _never_ without a heart. You have _such_ a complicated heart, Sora."

He shrugged that off. "So do you. Well, okay. Maybe yours is a bit simpler, but…"

Naminé gave him an inquisitive stare. "But what?"

"I think you always had a heart too."

She felt…touched. "Thank you. That actually means a lot."

"Do you remember Kairi's memories too?" Sora asked softly.

"No. Only yours."

He nodded, not looking surprised.

"But even if I had a heart, Sora, it wouldn't be as strong as yours. I'm not a strong person." Naminé lowered her head, and Sora tipped her chin back up.

"Nah, of course you are! Watch." He released her, stepping back and summoning his Keyblade in a flash of white light. He carefully placed the handle of the weapon in one of her slim hands.

The Kingdom Key felt…almost weightless. And it only took her a few seconds to understand what he was showing her.

"It's not going away," she whispered. Naminé remembered that no one put the Chosen of the Keyblade could actually wield one. If anyone else tried, the legendary weapon would disappear, back to its original owner.

"Keyblades respond to strong hearts, right? See? It's not vanishing. As for Roxas, you need a heart to wield a Keyblade. And he has one, despite being a Nobody. Two, even." Sora laughed again, and Naminé found herself liking how he could smile at anything, anywhere, anytime.

Naminé handed it back to him. "Thank you," she said again, honestly.

He dismissed the Keyblade without really looking at it. "No problem." He noticed her eyes were locked on something behind them, and he turned around to see who was approaching them. Who else could walk in his dream world besides his blonde Nobody?

Roxas was approaching _from thin air_. Every footfall generated a thin, stained glass platform the color of fire and raven wings. He seemed unbothered by the bottomless drop beneath him, his gaze focused on Naminé. It was only when he passed Sora that he actually paused.

"Sora." He turned around, dark blue stare focused on the Keybearer now. "What are you doing here?"

"This _is_ my…" The boy looked around. "Keyblade...dream…realm, right?" He grinned and earned an amused smile from Roxas.

The Nobody gave Naminé a breathtakingly bright grin. "Hey, we're together again."

She dipped her head. "Yes."

"But…Kairi's not here. We'd know. Or_ I'd_ know."

"No, she's not. I'm…I had to talk to Sora, about something that happened at Castle Oblivion."

Sora had the sense to keep quiet.

"C.O.? Really? That place was a _disaster_." Roxas shook his head, reacting as if he was still in Organization XIII. However, there was a glint in his eyes that made it obvious he knew something had been going on between the two.

"You should go, Sora." Naminé quietly addressed the Keybearer.

"But, what if I want to talk to you again?" Sora objected.

Roxas's quick, dark orbs flickered from the witch to the boy.

"I'll find you. I promise." Naminé smiled and he did the same.

"Right. See you soon!" Sora caught her in a quick, one armed hug before retreating. In a glitter of golden particles, he vanished back to the waking world beyond the unconscious kingdom of dreams.

Roxas crossed his arms and stared the witch down. "What was that about?"

Naminé was still looking after where Sora had gone. She started guiltily and shook her head. "Nothing."

"You're a horrible liar." He replied icily.

"…I know."

Roxas's eyes softened.

~***~

"Sora?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you so out of it? You okay?" Kairi's expression was worried; bending over him as he lay sprawled out on the beach of their play island.

"Yeah…Just thinking about Naminé."

"What about her?" His best friend knelt down by his side, legs drawn up to her chest.

"I met her again in a dream. And apparently she and I knew each other!" Sora clapped a hand to his face. "I feel awful for forgetting."

"She thinks about you all the time," Kairi murmured.

He sat up quickly. "She does? What does she think?"

His friend's multihued eyes examined his face, searching for something and apparently finding it, because she looked a little sad. "She goes over her memories of the two of you. I can especially notice it when I'm asleep. She dreams with me, I think."

"Can you two talk to one another?"

"A little. Do you and Roxas…?"

"Not really. I know he's here," Sora tapped his head. "He just hides his thoughts from me."

Kairi nodded. "I wish I could have met Roxas face-to-face, you know?"

"I'd like to get to know him better too. The little time I did see him, he wanted to hack me to pieces with his two Keyblades." Sora closed his eyes and leaned back again, feeling bad because he had found himself wishing that the girl next to him was the white witch. It was as if the pull that had attracted him to Kairi's side had _moved_. Of course, she was still his Kairi, his very best friend that knew him like no other—except, again, maybe Naminé. He'd always do anything for her.

Kairi knew him well enough to know when to go. "I'll see you later, Sora. Stop by my place if you want to talk, okay?"

"'Course," he responded with a grin, opening his eyes and looking up at her.

When she had left, Sora settled back into the warm sand, listening to the roar of the waves as they crashed against the shore.

_I'll keep my promise, Naminé. And the light _will_ bring us together. I just know it._

_~***~_

_**This one-shot was a request from one of my closest friends, Kiome-Yasha. I hope I lived up to your expectations. I tried my very hardest to keep it both in-universe and also as canon as possible. I've never written a NaminéxSora before either. I hope you enjoyed your gift, 'cause you totally deserve it.**_

_**The musical inspiration for this entire story: Missing You ~ Naminé's Theme from the Kingdom Hearts Piano Collections. **_

_**Reviews are love…at least for me. I'm weird like that.**_


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